Google announced last week that its Gemini AI chatbot now offers the ability to provide responses based on earlier conversations. It can also summarize a previous chat and recall information the user has shared in other threads. “Whether you’re asking a question about something you’ve already discussed, or asking Gemini to summarize a previous conversation, Gemini now uses information from relevant chats to craft a response,” according to Google. The new feature is rolling out via Google’s $20-per-month One AI Premium Plan to start and will be available to Google Workspace Business and Enterprise customers in the coming weeks.

“You’re in control over what information is stored,” Google explains in a blog post. “You can easily review, delete or decide how long to keep your chat history. You can also turn off Gemini Apps Activity altogether. Gemini may indicate when it uses your past chats in sources and related content.”

“Google and OpenAI have both enabled more general ‘memory’ features for their AI chatbots in the past year,” reports TechCrunch. “These allow ChatGPT and Gemini to remember details about you, such as how you like to be addressed, your food preferences, or that you prefer riding a bike to driving a car. However, these existing memory features don’t remember and recall your full chat history by default.”

Other “chatbot providers have been experimenting with memory and recall,” notes TechCrunch. “OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has previously noted that improved memory is among ChatGPT’s most requested features.”

Developing “chatbots with long, reliable memories is part of the ‘agentic’ AI future many companies” are pursuing, Engadget writes. “At I/O 2024, for instance, Google debuted Project Astra, which featured a built-in memory, though it was limited to a relatively short window of time.”

Gemini’s new memory feature will initially be available for English-speaking users. Google says support for other languages is coming soon.